Goodbyes
by grimwoode
Summary: Human AU. Emil is going to college, and when Lukas takes things too far, he calls Matthias to his rescue. Anko family one-shot.


**Notes** : Here's a little something I wrote as an early birthday present for Spiritblaze :0

* * *

Matthias was sitting on his living room couch playing Skyrim for the fourth hour straight. Since Lukas was supposed to be working that morning, he more or less dedicated the day just to getting ahead in his game. His character was in the middle of taking down it's third dragon that day when his cellphone rang and Lukas' house number flashed across the screen.

Suddenly excited, Matthias quickly paused the game to answer his phone. "Hey babe! How was work?" he said as a big smile broke across his face.

"Don't call me that!" said Emil in a panic. "I need you to come over, _right now!_ It's an emergency."

"Whoa, calm down. What's the emergency?"

"Lukas is suffocating me! I need you to come over and stop him!"

"Wait, what do you mea—"

Emil hung up before he could end his sentence.

Now Matthias was anxious. There was no way his boyfriend would ever hurt his little brother, but he never heard Emil sounding so panicked and scared. Matthias didn't need to think about it more; if Emil needed help, he was going to help him no matter what. Grabbing his keys and his wallet, he left his house and drove to their house as quickly as he could.

As he drove over, what bothered him the most was thinking Lukas could be aggressive. He'd never known his boyfriend to be aggressive before. Sure, he seemed cold sometimes, but he was never mean. Matthias wasn't wrapping his head around what might be happening in their house but he was determined to find out and make things right.

He pulled into their driveway, barely slowing down to turn, and ran up the deck to the front door. He banged on it three times, anxious to make sure Emil was okay. He was a little surprised to find a frustrated Lukas open the door for him and he was scared to find Emil wasn't within sight.

"You," said Lukas sharply.

"Ye—"

"Have you seen Emil? I can't find him anywhere anymore! I was helping him get ready to leave for college and then he just disappeared on me."

Everything clicked into place in Matthias' mind. It made sense now: Emil was accepted into college and was going away, so Lukas, freaking out about his little brother going away, automatically went overboard to help him get ready, and Emil fled to get away from Lukas 'suffocating' him.

Emil just wanted Matthias to get Lukas out of his hair and take care of his preparations in peace.

Lukas moved aside to let Matthias into the house. Shutting the door behind him, Matthias walked over to the hallway where he watched Lukas flutter around the house, picking up a blanket here, a pillow there, and packing them in a box in the middle of the living room. There was already a box labelled 'kitchen' and another labelled 'bathroom' next to it.

Matthias leaned against the wall. "So, Lukas," he said loudly enough for Emil to hear wherever he might be. "You must be so excited that Emil got accepted to college."

"Yeah, sure," was his absent-minded reply.

Matthias kept his ears peeled for the sound of footsteps. He didn't wait long. He turned around towards the hall to find Emil coming out of Lukas' room

"Finally, you're here," he whispered to Matthias.

"Where you been?"

"I was hiding in Lukas' closet. He wasn't going to look for me there. Can you please get him to leave me alone?"

"Emil! I've been looking for you," shouted Lukas, his face red with frustration. "I've been packing things, and you're not helping! It's like you're not even taking this seriously."

"Lukas, please," cried Emil, embarrassed.

Matthias watched casually from the sidelines as Lukas started nagging Emil about how he'll need to remember to brush his teeth every day, to not eat junk food all the time, and clean his clothes regularly.

"I'll deposit some money in your account once a month so you won't go without, but that money is for buying food and _not_ video games, you hear?"

The blather didn't look like it was ending anytime soon and Matthias noticed Emil's face shifting to darker shades of red with every bout. He walked over to Lukas, still going around the house and collecting seemingly random things he thought might be useful. He grabbed the Norwegian by the shoulders, and forced him around to look at him.

"Hey, Lukas, calm down," he said soothingly, but slightly amused as well.

"I am calm, and stop smiling like that! It's creepy."

Matthias ignored the retort and wrapped him in his arms instead, still smiling down. No matter how much it annoyed Emil, Matthias found Lukas' suffocating affections endearing.

"Emil's a big boy, now. He can take care of himself," said Matthias. "You made sure of that. You did a great job raising him." Matthias leaned down to kiss his brow.

"But what if he's not ready?!"

"He is, just look at him."

Lukas reluctantly looked over where Emil was fidgeting nervously. His face was still red from embarrassment, but his eyes were stern and serious. He was almost as tall as Lukas now, and just as strong too. His report cards were always good, and he never got into fights with others. He really was responsible and knew how to take care of himself.

"Emil," started Lukas and bit his lip. He paused to think about how he wanted to put into words how he felt. "I'm sorry for going overboard with the whole college thing. I just want everything to go perfectly for you."

Emil cast his eyes down and sighed. "I don't need you hovering over me all the time, Lukas."

Matthias motioned for Emil to come closer. He obeyed reluctantly and when he was close enough, Matthias pulled him into a hug and ruffled his hair.

"But seriously," said Lukas. "Please don't forget to pack underwear because _I am not_ having it shipped to you if you do."

"Wow, mom," teased Matthias. "You need to chill."

"Shut up, pastry."

"I'm out," intruded Emil, sensing that this was going to turn into one of those fights where they end up making out and being generally gross. He threw his arms up and went back to his own room to pack some clothes (and making a mental note to pack underwear).

Lukas smiled as he watched Emil walk away. He was going to miss his little brother, but he knew it was what he wanted. Matthias wrapped him in his arms again and gave him a peck.

"He'll be fine," said Matthias. "And if ever he needs help, he knows who to call."

"You, apparently," replied Lukas mockingly and playfully shoving him onto the couch. "He called you didn't he?" Lukas dropped down on the couch next to Matthias.

"Yeah. He made it sound like you were trying to kill him. I couldn't let that happen."

"No, of course not." Lukas smiled up at Matthias. Then he started biting his lip again and looking down the hall where Emil disappeared.

"You don't need to nag him. Let him come to you."

"I know. It's just hard to let him go."

"I know."

"He really looks up to you, Matthias."

"About as much as he does to you."

"Really?"

"Really."

The anxiousness that previously clouded Lukas lifted slightly and a small smile came through. He pulled on Matthias' shirt to make him lean down for a deep kiss.

"Thanks for coming to his rescue, Matthias."

"Lukas, I would never let you kill my little brother."

"Matt—"

"I mean, sure, he takes after you a lot more than me, but that doesn't mean I can't protect him."

Lukas couldn't help but laugh. He could always count on Matthias to help ease his anxieties. He nestled his head in Matthias' arms and closed his eyes.

"He really will be okay," said Lukas. "And that makes me happy."

Matthias rubbed Lukas' back, leaning back so they could lay down on the couch with Lukas on top of him. Nestled together, they napped until it was time to drive Emil to the airport. That night, Lukas cried himself to sleep worrying about his little brother and Matthias made it his duty to comfort him.

Their goodbye wasn't forever, after all.


End file.
